Passes & Canyons Blog

Yeah, it’s pretty snowy out there but the roads are mostly clear. The only ice I had to deal with was on my street.

You never know at this time of year when you’ll be able to ride so you take advantage when you can. That’s what I did on Wednesday.

Isn’t it funny how your tolerance of the weather adjusts with the weather. In September a day in the 40s seems really cold. Now here we are in January and I thought, “Wow, it’s in the 40s. What a great day to ride!”

I hadn’t been on the V-Strom in a while so it was time it had its turn. I had no plans to go far, just making sure to get in a ride on each bike in January.

Heading southeast I crossed the Cherry Creek Dam and the reservoir told a tale of the weather. Frequently, long before this time of winter the lake will be completely frozen. But it has been warm–until the last couple weeks–so while most of the lake had ice there were small portions that were open. Then I noticed that the freezing was very spotty with a lot of little bits of water amid big sections of ice. I’ve never seen it in this stage of near-freeze before. And with the temperature expected to take a serious plunge in just a couple days, by next week it could all be ice.

I headed out on Parker Road, all the way down to Parker and then turned west on Main Street. For some reason, as soon as I turned west it seemed the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. Not at all sure why.

I was totally geared up, with one of my heated gloves set to the lowest setting and the other to the number 2 setting. I’m always experimenting to see what difference something like that makes. Well, in this case, my fingertips in the lowest setting glove were getting darn chilly, so when I stopped to shoot that photo above I bumped it up. That felt good.

It was a pretty uneventful ride but I did see one other rider out. Plus, I had seen another one earlier when I was out in my car. Some people know a good day to ride when they see it. Back at home I felt like the ride was too short. How nice to go out in the middle of winter and wish you had stayed out longer and ridden further. You gotta love Colorado.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycling is an endless opportunity to accessorize.

No, it wasn't this cold on Friday, but it sure wasn't warm.

On Sunday we finally got the warmth we had been promised but denied on Friday and Saturday. What a glorious day to be out on the bike.

Meanwhile, believing the weather forecast, I rode to work on Friday without wearing all my warmest gear.

Of course I wore my heated vest. If you don’t wear anything else, the vest is essential. If your core body is warm you can tolerate a little coolness in the extremities. I’m not saying it’s pleasant to have your fingertips pinched by the cold but having your torso bathed in wonderful warmth is just that . . . wonderful.

So I didn’t wear my electric gloves and yes, my fingers were a bit nipped by the time I got all the way out to Lakewood. But my biggest mistake was in footwear. I just didn’t feel like walking around in boots all day and I figured, hey, it’s supposed to get up to 60 today–I’ll just wear shoes. Of course, getting up to 60 (which it didn’t) and being 60 at 8 a.m. when I’m heading to work are two entirely different things.

When was the last time you said to yourself, “I’m pretty warm and comfortable all over except my ankles are freezing!”

Boy, and they were, too. Boots aren’t electric but they don’t have to be. All they have to do is keep the cold wind off that part of your body.

So yeah, we all get stupid some times, don’t we? You never outgrow it. You learn by experience and maybe you never do THAT again but then you do something else. And you get to learn by experience again, only this time it’s something a little different that you’ve learned and then you never do THAT again. But there’s always another THAT.

Maybe I need a winter variation on ATGATT (all the gear, all the time). How about ATHGWIC? (Hey, that’s catchy, isn’t it?) That would stand for “all the heated gear whenever it’s cold.” Except in my case I might want to add DFB (don’t forget boots). ATHGWICDFB. Oh, now we’re really catchy. Just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?

Let’s try again.

WEWIC. That would be “wear electrics when it’s cold.”

Or maybe ATHGATW (all the heated gear all the winter). Do I have to add AB for “and boots” (ATHGABATW)?

OK, I give up. Whoever came up with ATGATT did a terrific job; I’m not going to match that. Who knows, maybe just remembering those cold ankles will be all the reminder I need. In fact, I’m sure it will. Until the next time I get stupid.

Biker Quote for Today

In the grand scheme of things, what’s it matter? Forget it! Let’s ride.